Weekly Editorial
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The Way of All Flesh
Did it seem to you that there was a worldwide overabundance of really good chocolate this holiday season? I’m not talking about your down-to-earth Hershey’s or Milky Way bars; I mean really fancy (so I am thinking extra fattening) chocolate, with names that you don’t pronounce half of the vowels written on the packaging.
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Home for the Holidays
Well, I have to say that it is good to be home. For those of you who were not aware, I was over in Europe for about 10 days, looking at European woodworking tools. In the part of Europe that I visited, hobby woodworking is not as big a thing as it is here at home. There are some great woodworkers, but most of them are doing it as their vocation, not an avocation.
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The Doctor is Ready
Welcome to another sponsored eZine. This time out, our special partner is Drill Doctor. The Drill Doctor is one of those tools that, if you have never used one, it is easy to be a bit skeptical about. After all, it simply sharpens drill bits … but if you are one of us who have actually used the product, you are likely to be a convert. I remember back when the Drill Doctor was first gaining popularity, I, too, was under-impressed. Then I got my hands on one, and I changed my mind in a big way.
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Thanks All Around
It is the season when many of us look back at the year behind us and find much to be thankful about. It is true for me.
When I consider the grace and the good fortune I have experienced, it is more than a bit humbling. And while the top of my “why I am thankful” list features my family and others that I love, it is not limited in any regard. -
The Stuff of Woodworking
I have a bit of a strange question for you: What process do you go through when deciding what sort of lumber to use for a project? Personally, I find selecting lumber to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of woodworking. Sometimes it’s a process of discovery: “Hey, what the heck is that big chunk of wood in the corner?”
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Back in the Basement
Having just spent two weeks in China hunting up woodworking stories, and another in North Dakota, hunting birds, I am ready for a break from this life of glamour. (I know, you feel sorry for me … how could you not?) Fortunately, my family is always ready to help me when I get in these moments of need. They were quick to point out a project or two that needed to be completed.
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Back in the U.S.A.
I just flew back from China … and boy, are my arms – OK, even I can’t go for that goofy joke. But I am indeed back home and happy to be in the soon-to-be-frozen north. My tool travels to Asia were eye-opening and truly gave me an opportunity to understand the dynamics behind the shift of manufacture – of all sorts, not just woodworking tools – to the East.
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(Wood) Working on Two Continents
As you know if you’ve been reading these little notes from me – and why wouldn’t you be? (wait – don’t answer that) I am currently on my whirlwind tool tour of Asia. But yet I’m writing to you in this week’s eZine. How can that be?
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Bon Voyage
It’s time for me to get ready for some serious road rash! This coming Saturday (September 16th), I — along with my trusty photographer, Donna Chiarelli — will board a plane headed for China. It will kick off two weeks of traveling from tool-making plant to tool-making plant to see how our favorite woodworking tools are made. The trip will be a challenge.
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(Extra, Extra! Read All About It!)
Sometimes it’s so fun being a woodworking editor that I don’t want my boss to know how much I like it (because he might stop paying me). Today, I am going to let you in on a couple of secrets that I have been sitting on for a while (as uncomfortable as that sounds). The first is a new web site, the eZine EXPO, that we will be putting up for the introduction of the fall woodworking season.
